WBASNY in Cuba

azon basin high near its source and then paddled down the river and up through the Antilles to end in Cuba. It was similar to the trip organized and run by Thor Heyerdahl in his famed boat “Kon Ti- ki.” The trip is chronicled throughout the room in maps and collections. When we entered a room covered from floor to ceiling with books containing Antonio’s notes and photographs from his many expeditions, we learned how Antonio evolved from scientist and explorer to revolutionary. In his extensive work in the 1940s and 1950s, he exposed Cuba’s agricul- ture and agrarian society as a class system. The Cuban dictator at the time, Fulgencio Batista, felt Antonio, or more importantly his thinking and writ- ing, threatened the regime. Antonio was arrested, ultimately fully converted and committed to the revolution (proof of this conversion are contained in the display cases), and later served as a captain under Che Guevara in central Cuba. Once the triumph of the Revolution was secured Antonio continued to serve his country. He served as di- rector of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform, putting into practice his thoughts developed in his

previous work. He also served as president of the Cuban National Bank, president of the Academy of Sciences, and as ambassador to Peru. Antonio Nunez Jimenez donated his home to the Foundation to continue his work in the sciences, exploration, and conservation/environmental pro- tection. Now a non - governmental organization charged with researching and protecting Cuba’s land and water and its natural habitats, the FANJ conducts research on weather, climate change, and the land and water of Cuba. It plays a key role in stopping poaching and in enforcing the en- vironmental laws of Cuba, and is working to en- courage the development of wind and solar power sources and technology to create a sustainable energy structure In one example of its activities, FANJ research helped demonstrate that a dam planned for a river in eastern Cuba to “solve” water issues in the re- gion and throughout the country would in fact cause large - scale environmental damage. FANJ was instrumental in stopping the project and pro- tecting vital irreplaceable land.

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